DeBary to allow households to keep 3 chickens

The ordinance creates a one-year pilot program allowing families in certain zones to keep three female chickens, or hens, in enclosed backyards with coops.

MARK HARPERSTAFF WRITER

DEBARY -- The City Council legalized backyard chickens Wednesday by a 4-0 vote, but a family with an autistic son who benefits from the birds now faces some tough choices.That's in part because the Hart family of Highbanks Road owns six chickens, but the ordinance approved Wednesday only allows three.The ordinance creates a one-year pilot program allowing families in certain residentially zoned areas to keep three female chickens, or hens, in enclosed backyards with coops. Chickens must be permitted. The council was split over the question of whether to allow three or six, with Councilmen Dan Hunt and Chris Carson expressing support for raising the number to six, but Lita Handy-Peters and Nick Koval blocking that change. Mayor Bob Garcia was absent. Hart family attorney Mark Nation argued three was not adequate and an arbitrary number that would result in no difference than his suggestion, 10. "The six chickens are working," Carson said. "I don't see where it needs to be 10. I don't want nothing to happen to the chickens." He did not support Hunt's motion to raise the number to six, but later said he would support allowing six for the Hart family. City Attorney Dan Langley advised against making a special rule for one individual family, and the matter eventually died. The new law also requires the yards be kept clean and that chickens do not contribute to nuisances such as noise and odors, City Manager Dan Parrott said.Council members did support two changes to the original ordinance suggested by the family, including allowing chickens to run free in a fenced-in backyard so long as the owner is present. Also, the council eliminated a proposed rule that would require anyone seeking a permit to obtain the written support of all neighbors within a 200-foot radius. The council will only now require notification and a 10-day period in which a neighbor who objects to chickens to register concerns with the city manager, who will ultimately issue or deny the permit. The Harts and their pediatrician say their 2-year-old son J.J. has benefited greatly by chickens, who seem to foster his physical and emotional development. At one point they had 11 chickens, but someone complained to the city and the family was found guilty of violating a city prohibition of chickens in October. A couple of days later, the family found four of their chickens beheaded in their backyard.That case remains under investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Despite the council's allowing three backyard chickens, some conflicts between residents and council members were evident Wednesday. Ashleigh Hart said she believes some city staff and council members have made derogatory comments on Facebook that mock citizens rather than respect them."You are all being watched in everything you do," Hart said. She also accused Koval of being in violation of the same city rule preventing agriculture in residentially zoned property that she was found to have violated. Koval, she asserted, has a fruit tree in his front yard.Koval responded by saying he does not have a fruit tree and that he takes offense to her unfounded allegation.